I am the Lord, and there is no other; besides me there is no god.  I arm you, though you do not know me, so that they may know, from the rising of the sun   and from the west, that there is no one besides me;   I am the Lord, and there is no other. Isaiah 45:5-6

I am God. Don’t forget, don’t get it wrong. You may not know me, but there is no other God besides me. 

I wish we would believe this all the time.  It would make life so much less burdensome.  We wouldn’t second guess ourselves, when God speaks to us.  We would truly live a free and uncomplicated life knowing that God is there working out all things for our good.

In this passage god is speaking to Cyrus, the King of the Persians who is not a descendant of Abraham. Cyrus is not a Jew.  Yet God appoints (Isaiah 45:1 says anoints) Cyrus to be the person who frees the Jews from Babylonian captivity.  This reinforces the point that God can and will use anyone to carry out God’s bidding, even if they don’t know they are doing God’s work.  This so true of many of us, who don’t realize that what we do in our everyday tasks is God’s work.  God appointed you to do as you are doing so others who have a need of your service can benefit.  Further we should not think that others are not worthy of God’s anointing and grace.

Some experts tell us that Isaiah announced this before Cyrus came on the scene. This just bears out how awesome God. God usually anoints Israelites, but this time the Israelites could not free themselves and so God used the King of Persia to release them. God did a new thing then and continues to do things differently.  God intervenes in ways we do not even know so that our life can be better. 

The Lord always raise up someone to carry out God’s work.  So with all the drama going on in our lives and in the world God has already laid down the plan which Jeremiah tells us is a plan for us to prosper and not one to bring us harm.

We must emphasize that Cyrus didn’t know God like how we know God.  He probably didn’t understand how he had become so successful as a king. God did so in order that God’s chosen people would be free.  God anointed, guided and used Cyrus. We should never underestimate the value of what God does through us who are believers. God uses us the faithful to carry out God’s bidding. 

We need to hold on that promise of God always being there and planning before we even recognize that there is a problem. God has our back and is ever present and working. The strength, power and wisdom of God is with us. We know God’s hand protects us as we walk in the way that God directs us We have the assurance that shield of God will defend us and God’s host will guard us against the snares of evil and the temptations of the world. Where God is, all is well. All will be well, all manner of things will be well.  Amen.